A string of hits with Classix Nouveaux; a classic 'religious' single "San Damiano"; but then SAL SOLO retired from music. Mike Fearon found out why he left... and why he's come back.

"Then I did an interview for Britain's biggest selling religious newspaper, The Universe, and the next thing I knew they offered me my own youth page for six months. I discovered new skills that I didn't know I had. I learned more about Christian music and was offered a series as a presenter on BBC Radio London, which I quite enjoyed. At last, there was no diluting of the message. When you're the presenter, you can say what you want, which is much better than making singles which people can block.

"I fancied the idea of more radio and, quite by chance, was offered a spot on GWR, out in the West Country, which ran for two years. More than anything else for me, it lead me to discover decent Christian music - most of the stuff I'd heard on the Rock Gospel Show was total dross! - and the whole Christian scene. It was as though God kept moving me around to ample different jobs for a while, learning various techniques. But I've never wanted, say, to end up on Radio 1 in Simon Bates chair!

"From the moment I was known to have been converted, I had begun to receive invitations to give testimonies - mainly in Catholic schools. I've also been invited to speak at priests' retreats, big conference, and once on Cheltenham racecourse. I became aware of a great starvation amongst Catholic youth - nothing had changed since I was one myself. They would go for a night on the town if they wanted to enjoy themselves; now they've learned that they can enjoy prayer and worship too. Sometimes at my talks I would show clips from my videos, but I never felt confident to sing with just a guitar accompaniment. I tried to put myself in the background."

Eventually he formed a youth prayer group meeting every Friday - a very unusual activity in the Catholic church - where he sang as part of a choir. Confidence grew in his own singing and disillusionment with the songs available lead him to write material of his own. His early Christian tunes were in the Taize worship mode, often with very few words.

After one early prayer meeting, a girl came up and explained to Sal that, in the prison visiting she did, she'd met a prisoner who would like to have a tape that would help him with the Rosary. Logistically, he could hire an 8-track tape machine for week for £200, that could then be recouped by selling, say 40 tapes at £5. More than 40 tapes - containing his early Taize-like songs - were sold, and other tapes of rough demo quality were produced on a similar humble basis.

Demand to have these on tape lead Sal to produce recordings of the worship material every few months. Eventually, his pop roots began to surface again, and he began to write more rhythmic songs, including a series of songs specifically about the Rosary.

"The devotion of the Rosary is a very old tradition in the Church, though it has now been forgotten by Protestants and post Vatican 2 Catholics. Older Catholics recite the Rosary, but they don't actually use it properly. Its purpose is to help meditate on the mysteries of Christ, and to enter into the Gospel. Instead, they recite endless prayers as a kind of endurance test - which is not my understanding of prayer at all!"

Sal was surprised to receive a request from someone at a new Christian record company, full Circle, that he should use his God-given talents to the fullest, and to make his new music available to all Christians. Sal has always felt that his calling was specifically towards Catholics - that God had raised up plenty of people to take care of the rest of the flock.

Sal finds it very biblical that he should have given up music for more than three years before God called him back to being a public singer.

His new album, 'Look At Christ' is not an attempt to return to the type of music he recorded before; he consciously distances himself from that. It cost about a twentieth of his accustomed recording budget, but he says that however much you spend, you're never 100% happy with it. His aim was simply to convey the words of Christ.

"I liked the combination of rootsy acoustic instruments and computer technology. We used a drum machine on the album, though I'll be using a real drummer for some live performances. I particularly liked the idea of unusual combinations; the opening track, for example, features Paul Jones on harmonica, and Dana as a featured vocalist over a backing with an Indian influence. It was good working with Nick Beggs again, too; the last time he played bass for me was on some demos for the last Classix album."

Live performance features some 170 slides, and be performed partly solo with acoustic guitar, partly utilizing backing tapes, and partly with live musicians. Sal will perform in semi-darkness: "I tell the audience to look at Christ, on the slides, and not at me. I'm not interested in jumping about and posing with a guitar like I used to do. Some of the musicians are from my youth Prayer group, though I do use professional musicians too."

'Look At Christ' was premiered at a Christian Broadcasters Conference, and well received. The slides of paintings, scenery, gargoyles, etc. made for a very challenging presentation that is intended to enrich peoples' prayer life Sal performed on An Evening With Dana back in June, and an appearance on a TV show about pilgrimages is due to be screened in August, around the time of the album's release.

Will he be playing any old Classix stuff at his performances? "Certainly not!"

The old Sal is dead. Long live Sal Solo.